Thursday, May 6, 2010

Plastic Flash Removal

Any plastic molder knows that as mold tools begin to age, flash will begin to form. Once flash begins to develop it will only continue to get worse with each time the tooling is used. Molders and end users typically have three choices to solve their mold flash issues.

1. Buy new molds at great expense to the customer.
2. Send parts to a deflashing service provider.
3. Remove the plastic flash in your facility by hand.

We know that most molds cost several thousand to tens of thousands of dollars. Many customers do not want to replace their molds because of the expense involved. In addition, it does not make sense to replace a mold if the product being manufactured is at the end of its product life cycle. Plus, there is significant downtime if the present mold is taken out of commission while the new mold is being made. Replacing molds typically is not the optimal choice for solving a flash issue.

There are many deflashing providers to choose from with various processes to consider. Our deflashing process is best for parts made of materials including plastics, polymers, nylons, rubbers, silicones, polyurethane, neoprene, liquid crystal polymer, urethane, viton, nitrile, butyl, DAP, ABS, PEEK, and aluminum zinc die cast and precision elastometric parts. Good candidates for our cryogenic deflashing process would typically fit in the palm of your hand. However, we have deflashed parts that are as small as a staple. For information on our plastic flash removal process, please visit our deflashing webpage.

Some plastic molders choose to have the plastic flash removed in their own facility. Some facilities have flash removal equipment including tumblers that use organic or plastic media. It is very common to see hand deflashing used in these operations. While the parts are coming off the mold, the operator will remove the residual plastic flash with hand tools in between cycles. Alternatively, after the entire mold run has been completed, several employees will sit around a table and deflash the parts by hand. This can be very time consuming and allows for inconsistent results.

If you are in need of a deflashing service to remove plastic flash then send us an email at info@nitrofreeze.com or call us at (800) 739-7949. We can review your application for deflashing whether it is in the form of part drawings, photographs or samples. Rather than have someone remove flash by hand; allow us to solve your deflashing issues with our efficient and cost-effective method.